


Mockingbird~ A Secret Robin

by Snow_Leopard_777



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Batdad, Bee Chloé Bourgeois | Queen Bee, Big Sister Mari, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Chloé Bourgeois's Queen Bee Identity is Secret, Even Bruce doesn't know he has a new kid for a while, Eventual trip to Gotham, Fu is a bitch, Gina is Best Grandma, Good Chat, Good Grandpa Ra's, Good mom Talia, Her name is Mara now, Kidnapping, Mari has that Customer Service smile:), Mimicry, Mockingbird au, Only She's not Mari, Other characters as they come up, Robin eats McDonalds, Secret Bat, Snake Luka Couffaine | Viperion, The batkids battle to see who can find their new sister first, Tiger Juleka Couffaine, all their fault, blame them, eventually, i blame Starry for this, i have not slept enough, i suck at names, idk if Lila redemption or not yet, imma stop now, it be deadly, little brother damian, no one likes him, rip bruce, shhhhhh, that would be imshookandbi for anyone on ao3 and not discord, then returning home, these tags are valid but also future, theyre 10 when they start fighting, without a trace - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28586340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow_Leopard_777/pseuds/Snow_Leopard_777
Summary: Marinette has been taught that she is to always be on alert and prepared for anything- including being a ten year old superhero along with her newest classmate. To have her entire world view chanced after being under the tutelage of one of the most dangerous families in the world. To be so completely and totally traumatized by the miraculous that she can barely stand to pick one up. To find her brother again after years of searching. To be adopted by a group of serial adopter vigilantes in America. Yes, nothing the world throws at her can surprise her by this point...
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Ra's al Ghul, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Talia al Ghul
Comments: 26
Kudos: 179





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Imshookandbi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imshookandbi/gifts).



> All blame rests on imshookandbi, the inspiration for this fic. Both the Mara Al-Ghul part and the Mockingbird part. So blame it all on them. Also give them the appreciation. You should check out their works, they're amazing. 10/10.  
> This is just the beginning, by the way. Much more to come and I have access to a computer now, so be prepared. ^u^

When Marinette Dupain-Cheng was nine years of age, she went missing for nearly a year. No one knew what happened to the girl, she vanished with no hint as to what happened to her. Nothing was missing from her room. No signs of a struggle or a break-in. Her bed had been slept in. Her parents were untouched and undisturbed in their room. A nine year old girl, for all intents and purposes, disappeared. 

Eleven months and two weeks later, she reappeared in her room. Her parents almost didn’t recognize her- a year older, skin much darker, and scars littered her arms. And that was just what they could see first glance. She never spoke of what happened while she was gone, only saying she was taken by bad people and they finally let her go. She never said why. She never said how. A protection detail was placed on her. Le Chein Kim, child progeny of the Le Chein clan, infamous for their martial arts and skill in protective careers, moved next door to the bakery and went to school with the shy little girl from next door.

Her parents were worried about the little boy their daughter drew pictures of. She never told them his name, nothing about him ever escaped her lips except that he was her brother. Her parents didn’t understand, they had no other children. So of course they told the detective that was still looking for the kidnappers about what Marinette said and brought him a picture of the child. 

The detective simply nodded and promised to look into it, adding the hand-drawn photo to the very,  _ very  _ small file he had. And if another child progeny for defense, Alix Kubdel, found herself suddenly uprooted and attending one College Francois-DuPont, well… no one had to know. 

~

At ten years of age, Marinette Dupain-Cheng knew more about secrets than most full grown adults. Her time as Mara, as much as she wished to forget it, taught her many things. Not all good- killing, torture techniques, the art of seduction… she was ten, those are things even people in nursing homes didn’t learn. But she did find good things. The boy she trained with, he was five years her junior but still skilled. By the time of her departure they had become good friends. She learned how to be an elder sibling, how to sew, medical work, self defense, and so, so many other useful things from The Hidden Protectors. Or at least… that’s what they introduced themselves to her as. The protectors of the Guardian of the Miraculous… whatever that was. For some reason the leader made her think of a Butterfly… and he in turn called her his little mouse. As her time to return home drew nearer, she struggled with the idea of leaving… and could tell that her new grandfather did not wish to see her leave either. He promised the day she left that they would meet again- sooner than she would think and longer than either of them would like. 

Her death was faked, very well, might she add. When she left, the group was held behind for a moment and told in no uncertain terms that she was not to return to their base. When they returned, they were covered in blood, mostly their own, and thought themselves victorious while a grandfather smiled secretly in pride and his daughter and grandson pretended that their hearts were not shattered by the news that Mara was dead and he approved. 

Mara died that day, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng came home, knowing and not looking forward to the job she was being returned for. Kwami did she hate Master Fu.

~

The first day of school, ten year old Marinette Dupain-Cheng found an ornate box left on her desk. Her whole body visibly recoiled from the box. She slipped it into her bag just in case she needed it, but she wouldn’t put it on until it was absolutely necessary. She might be more heroic than most that went through her training, but that didn’t mean she was willing to trust the Guardian GrandMaster Fu after everything he had done. Both to her and to his temple. She hadn’t cut her hair in over two years and was glad of the comforting weight of her braid. Her parents had tried to convince her to cut it when she returned home- they wanted the same little girl they had lost what felt like so long ago, but… She wasn’t Marinette Dupain-Cheng anymore, not really. She didn’t think she could ever go back to the person she thought she was. It just wasn’t in her anymore. She was nice to Kim, he had no choice but to try to protect her. She was nice to Alix for the same reason. She was nice to people who were genuinely nice to her, like Juleka, Nino, and Nathaniel. She was not nice to Sabrina and Chloe, especially not at first. They were a constant thorn in her side, expecting her to be the same pushover as she was before she left. But she wasn’t. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was dead, and the girl inhabiting her body now was unable to bring her back. No, Mara Al-Ghul was the owner of the body now, and Marinette was never coming back. No matter how badly she wanted to fit into her old place in the world, she had seen, done, learned, and suffered too much. 

After the first day of school, Chloe suddenly left Mariette alone, a mutual respect being born when they looked into each other's eyes and saw something familiar. Neither of them spoke, but they both knew.  _ Home is not always where the heart is. _

~

Chat Noir was a good hero, especially in the beginning. But Marinette could see things most could not. She could see how being the black cat wore on the poor boy. She could see how badly he wanted to end the fight, even through all the flirting and poor life choices. Perhaps that was why she didn’t take his ring even when he made her uncomfortable or pushed too far. Or perhaps it was just a small bit of Marinette Dupain-Cheng left, begging her to give the boy chance after chance because he needed and wanted the chance to prove himself. She shouldn’t have cared, she really shouldn’t, but his sound was so sad… She took to the rooftops, fully intending to go visit with Luka and Juleka and ask them for advice. They were better at handling the music people emitted, after all. 

Chat would stay. She could handle it for a time. Luckily for her, it didn’t take long for  Luka and Juleka Viperion and Shadow to help teach Chat Noir how to properly interact with people, read them, and know when to back off and let someone make their own decision about something. And how to properly react to people. It only took a couple weeks before the black cat was apologising to Ladybug and begging her to not be angry with him. She offered a small smile and hugged the poor boy, sealing their fate as friends rather than enemies. But never more than that.

~

At the age of twelve, Mara reconnects with her Italian spitfire of a grandmother. The woman made sure her granddaughter got more training in fighting, not expecting her to already have some experience, and so Gina worked to improve every move her granddaughter made and worked to increase her natural affinities with battle. Soon even a pack of gum could be a weapon to the heroine. 

Gina expressed much pride in how far her granddaughter had come, and quickly spirited her away from prying eyes and listening ears to talk to her in private. “Your parents wouldn’t let me come back to see you sooner, they claimed that the fewer people who had contact with you the better, claiming it would be easier to protect you. They lied to me, didn’t they?”

Marinette didn’t bother to object. Fu had made sure to tell her all about how it took a full week and a half for her parents to notice her absence. She would have thought it a lie to help break her, but… she could tell by the look on Ra’s face when Fu said it that it was the truth. Her parents didn’t even know she was missing until well past the time limit on when a kidnapping is expected to be able to be solved. “Yes. They lied. I was returned to school almost immediately after my return. The detective was able to keep me from going to school for a couple weeks, but he made it clear that I was free to have any of my family come visit me before or after my return to school. My parents told me that I was not to contact any of our family members. I believe it was because they were afraid that you would shine light on their own failure to realize I was missing for over a week and then proceeded to be unable to find me for a year until I reappeared in my room.”

Gina clenched her fists, but refused to let herself grow too angry. She knew of the terrorist that haunted Paris and she had no desire to be another disaster her nipotina had to fight. She did not know how her son had become as incompetent as to be unable to recognize his own daughter in a spandex suit and mask, but he was proving her wrong day after day with how utterly moronic he could be. “Who did you train with? Your style of fighting is very familiar, but I wish to confirm my suspicions before I say anything.” 

Marinette, Mara now, eyed her grandmother before finally confessing what happened. “The Guardian of the Miraculous decided that I would be the perfect successor. He had a secret society, The Hidden Protectors, they introduced themselves to me as, kidnapped me so that I could be properly trained to combat any threat and protect the miraculous when it came my time to be Grandmaster Guardian. Ra’s became a grandfather figure to me and Talia served as my mother. Damian was my brother. They cared for me more than any other person I have ever met, excluding you. I wish to return to them, it hurts to be away, but I can go nowhere until I have found the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous.”

Gina nodded. “So you joined the league. I have trained with them and, while I am not a member, I can help you continue to learn until you can reunite with them. At the longest you have to wait until you graduate college, then you may go anywhere you wish. But you must stay strong, my little fairy. Now, tell me your new name. It would not do for me to call you by the wrong name for any longer.”

Marinette offered her first genuine smile in years. “Mara. Mara Al-Ghul.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in less than seven days on the same fic? It's almost like I'm inspired. XD Also- nothing is going to plan, enjoy.

By the age of thirteen, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was nothing more than a ghost of a mask that Mara hid behind in public and with her parents. For the most part. Sometimes she slipped, a little too confident, a little too graceful, a little too forceful, a little too quick, but only those she held close ever noticed. She had a rather large family now, composed of Adrien, Luka, Juleka, Alix, Kim, Chloe, Sabrina, Jagged, Penny, Gina, and Roland. Gina and Roland obviously filled the roles of grandparents while Alix and Kim treated her as if she was their child- Adrien was _ her _ child, Jagged and Penny alternating between parental figures and aunt/uncle figures, and the rest on the sibling scale. 

Jagged had claimed the girl as his niece before she even knew what was going on- she had simply done the job asked of her. A pair of sunglasses such as the ones he was looking for did not exist, and so she made them exist. Her mother, even within as short a span of time they had together, had taught her that if you did not have the thing you required, you created it. Otherwise nothing would even get done. She and Penny were both amazed when he then asked to see her sketchbook and declared her not only his niece but also his designer. 

Penny glared at the man. “Do  _ not _ become another Bruce Wayne. I know he’s your friend, but I am not dealing with a child adoption addiction.” 

Jagged pouted. “I just want this one! She’s perfect! She gets my style, she does the work, and I can tell she’s gonna be great! Why not have a rockin’ uncle to introduce her to how things work before someone tries to hurt her!” Jagged was far too excited, and even Fang seemed against Penny, and the crocodile had curled himself as tight as he could around the legs of the young girl. 

Penny looked to the girl, obviously pleading for assistance. Mara hung her head for a second, considering. She missed the family she’d had in Nanda Parabat, there were a lot of people there, and most of them helped her. She missed the feeling of having a large family, which might be why she had claimed so many of the tolerable humans she knew as family, and this man was offering her something she could use. Ladybug struggled with her fame because she was unused to something making her famous, especially with it being mixed in so deeply with what she hated most with every fibre of her being. The miraculous were such a source of pain… But she didn’t need to think about that right now. People would not learn of her identity as Ladybug unless she wanted them to know. But her identity as a designer… That she could use some help with, especially since she had so many famous friends already. She lifted her head and smiled. “Call me Mara, Uncle Jagged, Aunt Penny.” Obviously addressing the woman as her aunt killed any and all arguments she had, the woman instantly falling silent in shock before a small smile grew on her face. 

~

Nora Cesaire was the next non-miraculous holder, for now, at least, Mara decided to adopt (no, Gabriel Agreste did not adopt her, that was a ridiculous rumor and she would swear until the day she died that the only reasons he trusted her with Adrien was because of how many times he’d seen her defend his son from an akuma before they managed to leave the scene and she was good friends of the daughter of the mayor). She wasn’t very close with Alya or Nino, but Adrien was friends with Nino and where her son went Mara followed, determined to protect him from the vultures they were surrounded by. Nora Cesaire joined them on that trip, determined to make sure someone was there to protect her little sister. Obviously Nino was unable to do so. 

Nora wasn’t the smartest of people, no, but she was good at reading people. Always had been. And that more than made up for her lack of being a star student in the classroom, especially since her career had more to do with the human body than with how to read old books are what happened to a bunch of dead people. Biology, chemistry, and math had certainly come in handy, though those were the only classes she liked enough to get help with and so excelled in those courses. Nino obviously couldn’t do diddly squat to protect someone. Her sister knew a little basic self defense but never used it, too busy focusing on a possible scoop. The Adrien boy had some training, she knew that much, but it was also easy to tell that it wasn’t hand-to-hand but more generic fencing training with some combat experience thrown in. But the smallest kid in the group, the Marinette girl,  _ she _ obviously saw her body as a weapon and treated it as such. Her clothes hid most of her figure, and her clumsiness would distract most people from her grace, but Nora could see how defined her muscles were when she took off her leather jacket to reveal a tank top, the fair being a bit too warm to run around with her usual punk-style jacket on, and she noticed how carefully sculpted Marinette’s clumsiness was. The girl would pretend to try to catch herself before letting herself hit the ground, it was obvious in the ways her muscles tensed, and Nora had caught her out of the corner of her eye try to avoid tripping over children and performing frankly impressive moves to keep from trampling them when they suddenly appeared underfoot. 

Nora could think of only a couple reasons for this behavior- and only one really made sense for the girl to hide her true colors so much- the child had to be one of the heroes. Nora didn’t really know how she felt about that. She’d gotten the girl’s age earlier, and based on when the heroes appeared, she had only been ten. Most people assumed the heroine was in her teens when she started and was just short, but that was obviously wrong. Nora clenched her fists. Who would dare to send a child to fight a madman with increasingly powerful creatures? How could someone be so reckless as to place a child in so much danger? She had seen those two children take hits more than once that should have killed them- and would have if it weren’t for the Miraculous Cure being cast before Ladybug was able to die. She didn’t notice the fact that her hands were bleeding from how tightly her hands had clenched- but Marinette did. The girl gently pulled her away from the main group, citing she needed to ask the older girl for some pointers on something or another before waving them on to get them all food. 

Marinette slowly pried open the older girl’s hands and made her meet her eyes. “What’s wrong? You’re hurting yourself.”

Nora met the girl’s eyes. “I know, Mariquita. You were ten when you started, not a teen with a younger sidekick like most thought. Who thought it wise to endanger a child like that? Who would place a child in a place where they supported an entire city and the weight of a battle nearly alone?”

Mara froze for less than a millisecond. “How did you figure me out?”

“Your body language. You’ve obviously been fighting for years, your body is well trained, and you make yourself clumsy. It’s not natural- it may have been at one point in time, but not for a long time.” 

Mara nodded. “You’re a physical trainer and boxer, I should have calculated that in when I decided on my clothing choices. Your sister is much less adept at observing things, and she wants to be a journalist.”

Nora nodded. “You still have not told me why you were forced to take on the role of the Savior of Paris. Deflecting will not make me forget.” 

Mara smirked. “You should call me Mara instead of Marinette. Very few people see through me so well, and they all get to call me by my true name.” The girl pulled a business card out of her pocket. “This is my personal contact information. We’ll meet up on a day when we don’t have people to watch over and discuss what happened to me a few years ago.”

Nora accepted the card with a sigh. “I hope you realize this makes you my new sister.” 

Mara offered her a true smile this time. “Thanks for that. It gets exhausting being the one to always do the adopting.” 

Nora blinked at the tiny girl, not comprehending her words until several days later when she called the entire family she had created together.

The day passed without an akuma attack, luckily enough. Marinette returned Adrien to his home before heading towards her own, unsurprised to find Nora Cesaire sitting in her family’s living room. “Come on up, my room’s more secure. My parents don’t know anything about this, and people have a tendency to just show up and invite themselves in.” 

Nora didn’t say a word as she followed the designer up and into the bedroom, taking in the pale green walls with light yellow and red highlights. Most of the rest of her room was done in oak and either blue, black, or white decorations.It was… surprisingly nice. Nora took a seat on the black chaise lounge, quickly realizing the white flower pattern had been embroidered instead of printed on the fabric. “You said you’d explain, Mariquita. Spill.”

Marinette took a deep breath. “When I was nine years old, I went missing for eleven months and two weeks, nearly a year. I was kidnapped by the Guardian GrandMaster of the Miraculous. He took me to Nanda Parabat to be trained to be his successor. I made a family there- he was not included, but I found a grandfather, a mother, and a brother. I had people I considered cousins, and people who had my back for the first time in a long time. One of the GrandMaster’s tactics to try to mold me into his perfect successor was to try to break me. Did you know it took my parents over a week to know that I was gone? The only reason they knew was because it came time to sign me up for school and they couldn’t find me. He thought I was his perfect successor- and Ra’s, my grandfather figure, saw how it was wearing on me. So he faked my death. I don’t know how the GrandMaster learned that I am still alive, I don’t know how he found me, but the day Ladybug first appeared, I woke up to find a miraculous on my desk. I didn’t want to become the heroine everyone loves to stalk, but I didn’t have much of a choice. No one else would have had the training to be able to take on Papillion and his akumas. So I did. And now we’re here. I’ve assembled a team of people I trust. None but a few of them know who I am, they all learned it on their own, but all of them are trusted by me and I know I have their support if anything happens. I cannot say the same for the Guardian. I would like for you to be a part of the family I crafted.” 

Nora stared at the tiny girl standing in front of her. She considered everything she must have faced. “Yeah. I’ll join you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Discord: https://discord.gg/4Qpx6qRNdg


End file.
